Barter me Broke!

Consumers have become very interesting in their approach to "negotiating." You pull out a pen and a price quote and your intended buyer suddenly seems to be transported to a beach in Mexico looking to purchase a sandy sea shell necklace. You offer your product or service at $10,000.00. Your buyer counters, "I'll give you $1000.00 right now and I'll tell everyone how well your product works." Oh thank heavens! You thought you were "negotiating" with a potential buyer. How lucky you should feel to discover you are "bartering" with Ralph Nadar!

Technically, bartering is "trading" without the exchange of money. "I have a gun, you have corn." Negotiating is coming to a mutually agreeable price - that usually doesn't include the trade of something except money. Unfortunately, potential buyers seem to be trying to mix the two in this time of economic uncertainty. This poses a very difficult challenge to sales representatives who are employed by the company they represent.

The best thing to do is to remind your potential buyer that you are in no position to barter for a product or service. Unless you actually own the company and you prefer to barter.

Remember, if a potential buyer is attempting to barter with you, you have just been put on the defensive. You can't win in that position. (Unless you are actually in a position to barter and want to do so.) If your selling style uses humor, this is the easiest way to deflect barters: "The only form of payment I can accept is Visa, Mastercard, or cash. My list doesn't include verbal or written endorsements, horses or small farm animals."

Always restate your price no matter how you have expressed to your potential buyer that their offer is not an offer at all. Your job then is to remain silent. Wait for the buyer to give you a reasonable counter offer.

If your buyer remains unreasonable, don't be afraid to go back over your price quote - stating to him or her exactly what is being offered, your price discount already built into the offer and how YOU reasonably expect the negotiation to proceed. This will put you back in an offensive position.

If you find that your buyer does not move, your sales process likely needs some fine tuning. It could very well be this "buyer" wasn't really a "buyer" at all. Learn to ask more probing questions to understand your buyers psychology and hot buttons. Understanding what a buyer truly thinks and believes is one of the first keys to executing successful negotiations.

For more information check out!: Sales-Negotiation-Training.net

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